November 7th Friday November 7th was another perfect morning. Our MOPS meeting was full of friends,companionship, a large variety of delicious foods, and great discussion. All the "business" items were taken care of at the start: open leadership positions for next year, book club announcements, birthdays and anniversaries among the many. I hope God in his comfy chair ready to listen to the MANY prayer requests going up from our group at St. Colette's this morning. MOPS is a group which encourages reaching out, supporting and "Being the Change." Our group is doing just that in so many ways in the upcoming months. On November 21st - Food Drive: we are asking our members to donate non-perishables to the Northville Civic Concern. It's our hope that our group will feed many hungry mouths this holiday season. On December 7th - Toy Drive: As part of the Avent Giving Tree Project, we are collecting new toys for children living in poverty stricken Detroit Parishes. We're looking for toys for any age and any gender. On December 14 - Wish List: Tree Tags will be available at the November 21st meeting. This Project will be collecting wish list items, usually baby related, for the Lennon Center in Dearborn. The Lennon Center helps support single, young pregnant women. On December 19th - PB&J Shoe Boxes: We will be collecting shoe boxes and filling them with items for Detroit's homeless. Members are asked to bring various items such as toiletries and washcloths to the meeting. The table change banks will go towards this project for November and December. During the meeting, all the moms managed to eat a hot meal and discuss their Highs and Lows of the last two weeks. We celebrated the highs and commiserated with the lows. We've all been there at one time or another, right? The rest of the meeting was full of fun and interaction through "Mom Bingo" and a Rotating Discussion Group. During Mom Bingo, we all went around the room, introducing ourselves and signing our names in the appropriate boxes on other mom's boards. Mom's shared some laughter and encouraging words while finding out that a mom "is more than a year behind with one of her children's scrapbooks (ehm, 5 years behind on one of mine... never started the other two, Yikes!) or "ate fast food in the last 24 hours" or "is in the process of potty training". There were some others listed that were celebrating successes too. "Made all the beds this morning". "Loves to eat chocolate" (can I get an Amen?). "Had a play date with someone this week". And it was Bingo after all, so Moms were trying to get 5 names in a row and yell "I LOVE MOPS". There were a few winners and the game changed to get a full board. Moms were rushing all over trying to find that last one... "Has a date night scheduled with one of her kids". Personally, I am going to get right on that! Our Rotating Discussion Group was great too. Tables split off and rotated to neighboring tables to discuss three questions. Discussions were great! "When was the last time you were asked what you did for a living? How did you answer?" "The tangible paycheck of your work is low. How else are you rewarded by motherhood?" "What is one thing you can do today to embrace your vocation as a mom?" What are your thoughts? If you're interested in MOPS, come check us out on November 21st at St. Colette on Newburgh and 6 Mile. We'd love to have you! Meredith Silick,

Our MOPS meeting on October 24th was an amazing one! Their is nothing better than being able to sit in a room with a bunch of fellow moms and talk and bent about what is going in each other's "mommy world." At our meeting we did an amazing craft and made necklaces with a brave charm and leaf and a little jewel - they are adorable and I have been wearing mine pretty much every day since we made them. We also had a guest speaker come in and give us a crash course in essential oils. I know a lot of women including me have been curious about the benefits of using essential oils is and so it was nice to learn first hand from someone who has been using them for years. We also talked about reverse trick-or-treating at Villa Marie that will our October service project! Our lovely Heather had her hair dresser come in to put pink extensions in anyone's hair that wanted them to show support for Annette and we got Team Annette bracelets. It's always amazing to me the amount of stuff we fit into a two hour meeting and how amazing all of us women truly are! Sommer McIntosh, Red Table Leader

October 3 2014 We had the amazing experience of Tracey Solomon speaking to our group. Through talking to us about her every day experiences with her many surgeries and her husband's battle with cancer, she connected with us as we help our dear friend and member Annette face and fight Breast Cancer. Tracey finds the funny and fun in as many moments as possible and reminded us to do so as well. She reminded us how important God is in this journey and how important our network om Moms are to all of us as we battle the challenges in our lives. She illustrated for us the number of times she stood with other Moms and faced the impossible and how important we are to each other as a support system. I for one am so thankful for all the love and support MOPS gives me and the opportunity for a village it provides for all of us. It was a heavy meeting because we have a number of Moms facing some health concerns for themselves and their children and we know we will all need to pull together and support each other through the year. Erin Lynch, Technology Coordinator

First Meeting 2014/ 2015!

Our first meeting was a success! We had 55 moms enjoying brunch, laughter and friendship. Lots of new, beautiful faces. I am so happy to see our group growing and thriving. While this meeting was a bit "boring" the next is sure to be lots of fun.

At our first meeting we had to take care of a lot of business after coming back from summer vacation. We introduced the our amazing steering team leading the way this year.

Coordinator	Tabitha Kelly
Co-Coordinator	Angela McGovern
Care Team Leader	Heather Mezzadri
Creative Activities	Sarah Osterhout
DGTL	Beth Tilt
Finance Coordinator	Becca Flack
Fundraising Chair	Meredith Sillick
Hospitality	Christina Zeoli
Mentor Mom	Susan Swantick
	Michelle Clemens
Mom’s Night Out	Bri Mason
MOPPETS	Kristin Marlin
	Katie Kratky
Newsletter	Emily Beeman
Philanthropy	Deanna Gates
Publicity	Kimmy Staber
	Susan Weak
Technology/Book Club	Erin Lynch

I know they will do amazing things and we will be able to grow in friendship throughout the year.

Our next meeting we will be having a "Be You Bravely" discussion. We have fun questions to help get to know our new friends and ourselves better. If you are thinking of joining us, please do! We love meeting new moms and making new friends!

In love and friendship~Tabitha Kelly, Coordinator

Welcome to St. Edith/St. Colette MOPS!

This summer was full of change for our group: thanks to so many amazing people who came together and make BIG things happen for us. At the end of last year we faced a challenge: we were running out of space for our moms. We had 2 choices: one-cap membership and have a waiting list or two-move to a new meeting space.

For me, it was an easy decision! There was no way I could look a mom in the eyes at Laurel Park Mall Play-scape and say, “You should be in MOPS. It’s amazing! You will make incredible friends, have support you never thought you possible, all while eating a hot meal WITHOUT your kids fingers in your face or hearing MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY! Oh, but you can’t be in my group.” So, we needed to move.

The next questions were: Where? How? I was at a complete loss. So, I prayed. Weeks went by and I was still clueless. So, I prayed again and again. I knew that God had the answer, I just needed to shut my mouth, open my heart, and listen. It felt like forever, but then, “St. Colette.” What? Where is that? That led me to stop in at St. Colette one day, ambush Father Gary and check it out. He gave me a tour - I was in LOVE! More space for our moms, rooms for our kids, and room to GROW!

I need to thank the entire staff of St. Colette for welcoming us with open and loving arms; especially, Father Gary, Greg, Theresa and Nancy. As Greg and I have joked before, we think this will be a wonderful marriage! We are so happy to add the support of St. Colette to the continued support of St. Edith, we are sure to do great things.

My vision for this amazing group is to allow every mom the opportunity to join us while keeping our close bonds and relationships. I have made lifelong friends in this group, people that I really don’t know what I would do without. I have been supported on my darkest and toughest days and celebrated on my highest and they have become my family, “my moms” as I like to say.

Last year we had 4 tables with 10 plus ladies at each. This year we have a max of 8 people at each table. So far we have 8 tables to start the year. This will be trial and error for a little bit so we may have to add additional tables if we keep growing (I hope we do!) My hope with the smaller tables is that we will be able to make close connections even if we are a large group.

The theme this year is “Be You Bravely” I really love this theme. It is who I try to be every day. Me. Sometimes I’m happy and awesome, sometimes I’m cranky and no fun, sometimes I say the first thing that comes into my head. Sometimes those things do not sound as funny when they come out of my mouth as they did in my head. I try very hard to be who I am and be ok with it. Once someone told me, “So you make mistakes, its ok, everyone does. FORGIVE yourself and move on.” I think about that every day. Forgive myself? Be ok with screwing up!? No way! NEVER!!! (ß say that like captain hook for the full effect)

As moms, women and human beings we tend to be our own worst enemy. How do you talk to yourself? Are you critical? Most of us are and most of us beat ourselves up over simple mistakes. It’s ok. Forgive yourself and move on. Be who you are fully, mistakes and all. God loves us fully, mistakes and all. This is what it means to be Christian - to be more Christ like - he loves you so you are worth loving. YOU. All of you.

I challenge all of you to be who you are. The real you. Mistakes, flaws, yoga pants and all! Yes, I will be in my foga (yoga pants that have never been to yoga) pants 99% of the meetings. I do usually shower but no guarantee on deodorant. I apologize now.

I am looking forward to all our returning members and all our new faces this year! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Tabitha Kelly

coordinator@stecmops.org